Andrew Kitzenberg, an Edina native, was a little too shaken up after the shootout in Watertown to appear in the media to talk about the pictures he shot outside his apartment window while it was taking place.

The American Lung Association says the Twin Cities’ air is now the 42nd most polluted air in the country. Ozone pollution got slightly worse in Anoka and Washington counties. Particle pollution got slightly better in Ramsey and Scott counties, the MPR says.

What are you willing to give up to make it any better?

The backyard fire?

“It’s used as a form of recreation and enjoyment.” David Thornton, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, tells the Star Tribune. “There is a real tug and pull between what we know and what we like.”

Other recommendations include “a rebate program for old leaf blowers and lawn mowers, incentives for fleets to switch to alternative fuels like natural gas, getting old cars off the road, and model city ordinances to manage wood burning systems,” the paper says.

If you drive I35E in St. Paul along the route of the old Pleasant Avenue, you’re special. The Minnesota Legislature has decided that if you’re stopped for speeding (the speed limit is 45) and you’re doing under 55, doesn’t go on your driving record.

Lawmakers, many of whom use that stretch of highway, don’t like the 45 mph speed limit, but that was worked out in a court agreement with neighbors in the ’80s. In exchange for putting an interstate there, cars had to go no more than 45 to keep the ruckus down.

The annual attempt to raise the speed limit failed yesterday, and the amendment on speeding tickets was a substitute. But there are any number of speed traps in Minnesota, none of which will get you a break on your insurance (by the way, the House rejected a bill last year that would have given everyone a break on speeding tickets if the crime was less than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit).

The Timberwolves turned a potential Rubio/Curry/Lawson windfall into just Rubio (who didn’t come to Minnesota for two extra years); two years of Flynn (played in Australia last year); backup guard Malcolm Lee; three injury-plagued years and more than $15 million of damaged goods (Webster and Roy); and nearly $6 million of Webster/Milicic buyouts. They also briefly had and lost Motiejunas (a promising rotation guy for Houston), Parsons (no. 48 on the trade value list), Mirotic (Chicago’s best prospect overseas) and Cole (a rotation guy for a 66-win team); and they have Memphis’s 2013 first-rounder (near the bottom of a dreadful draft) and Brooklyn’s 2013 second-rounder to show for their troubles.

Bonus I: “Luka, 12, can’t ride a skateboard, go diving, shoot a basketball, stand on one hand while breakdancing, or even climb a set of stairs, but he can certainly picture himself doing these things, thanks to a clever photographer in Slovenia who made a dream come true.” (GrindTV) h/t: Joe Duea

Bonus II: It’s “coffee week” on NPR, documenting the amount of work it takes to give you a buzz.

TODAY’S QUESTION

The Associated Press confirmed Tuesday that the organization’s Twitter account had been hacked. A false post was published about an attack on the White House. The bogus post sent a tremor through the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell briefly. Today’s Question: How do you know when the news you read is true?

Second hour: A University of Minnesota team performed an unprecedented operation on Tuesday, aimed at curing a young boy’s HIV and leukemia. Two doctors who led the procedure talk about it.

Third hour: When male professional sports has its first openly gay male athlete, what will the reaction be on the field, in the locker room, from the stands?

MPR News Presents (12-1 pm): Journalist James Fallows of The Atlantic, in conversation with Gary Eichten at St. John’s University.

Talk of the Nation (1-2 p.m.) – The president mourns victims in West, Texas. In Washington, both sides look for lessons after the gun bill goes down in Congress. Montana Democrat Max Baucus announces his retirement. And the Boston bombing reverberates through the immigration debate. The Political Junkie Ken Rudin joins host Neal Conan.

All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) - Rapper Talib Kweli’s music stands out in mainstream hip hop. While he sees the mainstream as obsessed with drugs and parties, his music is complicated, often political and always razor sharp. NPR gives a listen to his new album “Prisoner of Conscious”

A Roseville man says he lied about his age to avoid being killed in the Holocaust. Holocaust survivor Erwin Farkas’ story of survival is one of several highlighted in a new play, “We Could Recall/We Could Tell Stories,” that premiers this evening at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul with additional performances on Saturday and Sunday. MPR’s Dan Olson will have the story.

A bill making its way through the Senate could allow states the ability to collect sales taxes from online retailers. Lost tax revenue from online sales was estimated to cost Minnesota more than $400 million in 2012. Both of Minnesota’s Democratic senators back the bill, which has bipartisan support, but some anti-tax advocates say the legislation would amount to a power grab for states that already have plenty of revenue. Brett Neely will have more.

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts where he was vice president of programming for Berkshire Broadcasting Company. Previously, he was an editor at the RKO Radio network in New York, and WHDH Radio in Boston. He is the founder of the MPR News’ website.

Related Blog Posts

@#3 – Speed limits are based on certain factors… none of them particularly relevant to most motorists.

Thinks like the radius of the curves on the road, the incline of the road on those same curves.

Noise as mentioned above.

the ability to safely come to a stop in the event of a obstruction on the road, and the likely hood of an obstruction on a road.

And of course all of these things are calculated on the lowest common denominator of cars.

cars in the last 20 years have gone from front wheel disc brakes to all wheel disc brakes, most cars have anti-lock breaks, tires have improved, and stopping distances have decreased. The speed limit remains unchanged. suspension improves handling improves, cars can corner better faster, the speed limit remains unchanged.

If they don’t reflect reality most of the time, why should people observe them any of the time? People are doing 55mph past my house all the time, it’s a 35, with a 20mph school zone starting maybe 100ft from my house… Sure I’m on a main through road but it is still a residential neighborhood… but since the speed limits don’t mean much people just choose not to follow them ever.

Make the speed limits mean something and people will be more likely to follow them.

Robert Moffitt

Thanks for #2, Bob. Dunbar at MPR and Marcotty with the Strib did a fine job explaining our report with context.

andy

@Jon:

A counterpoint; What you say is true, cars are safer than ever, handle better, stop shorter, etc….

However, I would argue that the fact that cars are so much safer now may give people a false sense of security. If cars can stop shorter but people drive faster, it kind of balances out right?

Now some cars come with lane-change warnings, so if you drift to another lane w/out signalling the car will alert the driver. Will this allow people to text and drive at will because “if I drift into another lane, car will tell me, and then I’ll actually look up and correct my trajectory.”

Besides, we all know the rule, (in most cases) as long as you’re going less than 10 over the posted speed limit you won’t be pulled over. So if speed limits are raised, everyone will exceed the new limit anyway, where does it end?

But what do I know – I’m one in the very small minority that actually adheres to the speed limit. I just feel safer that way.

MikeB

#2, the backyard fire is a staple with us and our neighbors. It is a gathering place, a social hangout and an open invite to all to come on over and visit with each other.

But I was also at a talk last night about our lakes and the quality of said lakes. These are obviously a source of pleasure but our activities are causing their deterioration. What we use we eventually destroy. I still want to have these bonfires but I want to learn more about the impact of burning wood in residential areas.

#5 Kahn. He is the gift that keeps on giving, like a punch in the gut. We are season tickets holders but, like many others, next year is make or break. But Kahn works for Taylor. My theory is that Kahn was brought in to improve the balance sheet more than the on court product, as Taylor look to sell the team and cash out.

Jeff

@#3

State officials and the neighborhood agreed to the low speed limit and banning of trucks in exchange for building the highway through the neighborhood. Clearly the neighborhood can’t renege (the highway can’t be removed now that it is there). Why should the the state be able to?

Changing the speed limit from 45 to 50 will save a driver 28 seconds (besides during rush hours when drivers will be driving the same sub-45 mph speed as they do now).

#2: I am for eliminating backyard fires in Minneapolis. Wood smoke is a carcinogen, it emits greenhouse gases, and when the winds are calm, my neighbor’s fire pit can fill my garden-level apartment with carbon monoxide, setting off my detector. I would agree that burning a fire in the backyard is pleasurable, but it has serious consequences.